#aleatoric

Astronomical references in music can be found as far back as the 18th century, in pieces by the great composers Haydn and Handel, but not until the 20th century can we talk about whole works inspired by astronomy, astronomers and celestial objects. Gustav Holst wrote his very popular orchestral suite "The Planets" around 1916, although he was more inspired by their astrological meanings than astronomy. For the most literal link of astronomy with music, we turn to John Cage (1912-1992), an influential American composer of avant-garde classical music. Mid-20th century was a period in classical music when all kinds of boundaries were pushed to their logical (and often illogical) extremes. Composers experimented with non-standard ways to create and play music - often devoid of tuneful melody, familiar harmonies, regular rhythm, or even deliberate sound. John Cage took this trend to the extreme with his piece 4'33" during which the musicians remain silent for exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds. (It's meant to make the audience listen to the ambient sounds that happen to be heard.) Around 1960, John Cage composed a few pieces of so called "aleatoric" music, in which notes are determined by chance. His 1961 piece "Atlas Eclipticalis" took its title from an atlas of stars published by the Czech astronomer Antonín Bečvář. To create the piece, Cage took pages from the atlas, like the one shown here, superimposed musical staves on the star charts and copied locations of the stars as musical notes. Cage tended to leave much interpretative freedom to performers of his music, so the piece can be played by any numbers of players at an arbitrary tempo, determined by the conductor. Atlas Eclipticalis was commissioned for a music festival in Montreal, Canada and is still occasionally performed in concert halls. You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epBkVgfoXNk And here's a list of other astronomy-inspired pieces: http://www.astronomy2009.org/static/resources/iya2009_music_astronomy.pdf - PZ Sources: http://johncage.org/pp/John-Cage-Work-Detail.cfm?work_ID=31 Image credit: http://www.ta3.sk/public_relation/becvar/atlasy.html